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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

EU postpones 2012 emissions allowances auction

Following the European Commission’s (EC) Nov. 12 announcement that it was temporarily suspending its Emissions Trading System (ETS) for flights into and out of Europe (ATW Daily News, Nov. 12), the EC has requested the postponement of all further aviation auctions for 2012.

The EC said last week it had requested the European Energy Exchange (EEX), which hosts a common auction platform of behalf of European Union member states, to “put on hold” auctions for 2012 aviation allowances.

The UK and German governments have both opted out of the common platform and have notified their own auction platforms – IntercontinentalExchange Futures Europe (ICE) for the UK and EEX, which hosts the German platform as well as the common platform - to postpone planned 2012 aviation auctions.

At the end of October, the EEX concluded the first primary market auction of EU Aviation Allowances (EUAAs) for 2012 (the first year in which aviation has been included in the ETS) on behalf of Germany. A volume of 2.5 million EUAAs was auctioned on the Spot Market, with six participants placing just over 4.5 million bids (1.8 times the auction volume).

The second German auction for EUAAs was due Nov. 17 and has been postponed accordingly.

The first UK auction of aviation allowances was due Nov. 26, with a second scheduled for Dec. 10.

The ETS directive provides for 15% of aviation allowances to be auctioned, but the suspension of international flights from the ETS significantly reduces the volume of 2012 aviation allowances to be auctioned and impacts the shares of aviation allowances attributable to the common and the opt-out auction platforms. The EC has said it will provide more information about the volume and timing of 2012 aviation allowance auctions in due course, to allow auctions to be held by April 2013.

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change said it would press for this to be done “as soon as practicable to give certainty to the market.”

The EU ETS works on a "cap and trade" principle, with companies receiving emission allowances which they can sell to or buy from one another as needed. Most allowances are currently given out free, with the limit on the total number ensuring they have a value. Like industrial installations, airlines receive tradeable allowances and at the end of each year, must surrender a number of allowances equal to their actual emissions in that year.

If their actual emissions are lower than their allowances, they can either sell the surplus or bank it to cover future emissions. If their emissions will exceed their allowances, they can either take appropriate measures (such as investing in new technology) to reduce emissions or buy additional emission allowances on the market.

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